Wire-fence machine.



E. E. BROWN.

WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 28, 1904. 1 1,025,858. Patented May 7, 1912.

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E; E. BROWN. WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED mums, 1904.

PatentedMay 7, 1912.

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E. E. BROWN. WIRE FENCE MACHINE. APPLIUATIOH FILED JUNE 28, 1904.

' Patentd May 7, 1912.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES:

BY M

A TTORNE);

E. E. BROWN. WIRE PENGE MACHINE. APPLIOATIONIILE D JUNE 23, 1904.

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' E. E. BROWN.

WIRE FENCE MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28. 1904.

1,025,858. Patented May 7, 1912.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

A TTORNE Y.-

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0,, WASHINGTON, D. c.

E. E. BROWN.

WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED UNE 29, 1904.

Patented May 7, 1912.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

' ATTORN coLummA PLANOGRAPH cu, WASHINGTON, D.

E. E. BROWN.

WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 28, 1904.

Patented May 7, 1912.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

W1 TNESSES:

|T Q I 1 VE TOR.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (30., wAslllmmn. IL C.

E. E. BROWN. WIRE FENCE MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED Jun-2s, 1904.

Patented May 7, 1912.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

INVENTOR.

WITNESS S.

A ORNEY.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0..WASH|NOTON. n. c.

E. E. BROWN. WIRE FENCE MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, 1904.

Patented May 7, 1912.

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FOLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO" WASHINGTON. D. C.

E. E. BROWN.

WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

- APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, 1904.

Patented May 7, 1912.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 10.

A TTORNE X E. E. BROWN.

WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 28, 1904.

1,025,858. Patented May 7, 1912.

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I E. BROWN.

WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28 Patented May 7, 1912.

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1N VEN TOR.

WITNESSES" COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH C0,, WASHINGTON. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND E. BROWN, OF BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NOR, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, 'IO SOUTHERN IRON AND STEEL COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

WIRE-FENCE MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDMUND E. BROWN, citizenof the United States, residing at Bloomington, in the county of McLeanand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin VVire-Fence Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention has reference to a machine for the manufacture of wirefence and is particularly adapted for making a wire fence having asquare mesh, and composed of longitudinal or line wires and a series ofstay wires or pickets. The machine here shown being adapted to produce afence having a graduated mesh, but this is not material as it may bemade to produce a uniform mesh.

The stay wires or pickets are short sectional stays corresponding to thenumber of spaces between the longitudinal or line wires and such spacesare spanned by the sections of stays and the adjacent ends of eachsection coinciding with the same longitudinal wire are locked and coiledupon such longitudinal wires, the sections of stay when joined withadjacent longitudinal wires having the appearance of a continuous stayfrom sclvage wire to selvage wire.

The invention has for its object a series of vibratory hoppers or stayreceptaclesand a series of revolubly carried disks or stay carrierswhich are adapted to receive succes-' sively short sections of stay andfeed them to means for intertwisting or coiling them around thelongitudinal wires.

The invention has for its further object a series of vibratory hoppersdisposed in two rows, alternate hoppers being in the opposite row,revolubly carried disks for receiving stay sections from said hoppersand revolubly carried knotter plates adapted to receive the ends of thestay sections for coiling them around the longitudinal or strand wires.

A further object of the invention is a series of vibratory hoppers; aseries of feeding disks co -acting with the hoppers and adapted toreceive short sections of stays and deposit them upon means where theopposite ends of such stay sections are bent at right angles to theirlength; and revolubly Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 28, 1904.

Patented May 7, 1912.

Serial No. 214,566.

supported coiling or knotter plates for receiving the bent portions ofthe stay sections and. coiling or directing the same around thelongitudinal wires.

The invention has for its further object a series of receptacles forcarrying short sections of stays; a series of revoluble feeders; meansfor depositing short sections of stays from the receptacles upon thefeeders, the feeders adapted to retain the stay sections momentarily ina stationary position and during such period of rest, the opposite endsof the stay sections are bent at right angles to their length; means forcoiling the bent portions of the stay sections around adjacentlongitudinal or strand wires and means for delivering the short sectionsof stays from the feeders to the coiling devices.

The invention has for its further object a pair of knotter-platesco-acting with each other and revoluble in opposite directions, andcarrying means for receiving portions of the opposite ends of staywires.

The invention has for its further object a pair of knotter platesco-acting with each other, wire receiving portions upon the matchingfaces of the said plates and means upon each plate for depositing theends of opposite stay sections in the wire receiving portions of theopposite plates.

The invention has for its further object a pair of knottenplatesco-acting with each other, revolubly supported and one of said platessupported by a frame adapted to be raised and lowered and means upon thematching faces of the plates for receiving portions of stay wires anddirecting them in opposite directions around a coinciding strand wire.

The invention has for its further object, vibratory stay receptacles androtary feeding disks cooperating therewith, having notched peripheriesfor receiving the stays from the receptacles; reciprocally disposed stayreceiving devices and means cooperating. therewith for bending theopposite end of the stays atright angles to their lengths; reciprocallydisposed members for engaging the stays and lowering the same upon thelongitudinal strand wires with which the bent portions are inter-coiled;revolubly supported knotter plates having acting faces which are adaptedto be brought adjacent to each other for receiving and coiling the endsf the stays around the strand wires;

means for shifting the knotter plates toward and from each other; meansfor raising and lowering one set of knotter plates and crimping devicesfor the strand wires located intermediate the wrapping devices and theknotters.

The invention has for its further object, details of construction to behereinafter more particularly specified in the specification andillustrated in the accompanying drawingsforming a part of thisapplication.

Figure 1 represents a general outline view of one side of the machine;Fig. 2 is a plan in outline of the complete machine. Fig. 3 is a generalview in outline of the side of the machine opposite to that shown inFig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view in outline of the machine and the operativeparts thereof, looking at the machine the same as in Fig. 3 but theforward frame part of the machine being removed to show the relation ofthe parts. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 represent a front and side elevation and alongitudinal cross section of tension devices forming a part of the feedfor the strand wires. Figs. 8, 9 and 10 represent details of certainregistering devices and an alarm, employed for the purpose ofregistering the number of rods of wire passing into the machine. Fig. 11is a vertical and longitudinal sectional view of mechanism for feedingand forming the stay sections to the line wires; the plane of thesection is approximately on the line a-a of Fig. 12. Fig. 12 is atransverse sectional view of the stay section feeding and formingdevices and is taken on the line Z2b of Fig. l1,looking toward the headof the machine. Fig. 13 is a sectional plan of the mechanism whichperforms the operation of bending at right angles, the opposite ends ofthe stay sections. Fig. 14 is a plan view of certain collecting fingersand compression shoes which form a part of the stay section feedingdevices. Figs. 15, 16 and 17 represent two opposite side elevations andan edge view of certain intermittent gearing for driving a part of thefeeding devices. Fig. 18 is a detail in perspective of a portion of adelivering fork, several of which carry the stay sections from thefeeding devices to the strand wires and knotter mechanism. Fig. 19 is aplan view of the twisting and knotter mechanism which secures the staysections to the strand wires. Fig. 20 is a sectional elevation takenapproximately on the line cc of Fig. 19. Figs. 21, 22 and 23 show edgeviews of a pair of knotter plates; the several views being shown to showthe relation of the knotter plates previous to receiving the ends of thestay sections and subsequent movements thereof. Fig. 2 1 is a face viewof a twister and a knotter plate. Figs. 25, 26 and 27 represent a pairof knotter plates showing the different stages of their operation; oneof the plates being removed a short distance from the other in each ofthe views to atl'ord a better view of the operation. Fig. 28 is anelevation showing a part of the crimping mechanism for the strand wires,looking toward the head end of the machine. Fi 2t) is a sectionalelevation of the crimping mechanism shown in Fig. 28. Fig. 30 is a planview partially in section of the wire fence reeling or wrappingmechanism. Fig. 31 is an elevation in detail of ratchet mechanismcooperating with the reeling device, and Fig. 32 is a side elevation ofthe reeling device and the mechanism for operating the reel. Fig. 33shows a style of fence made on this machine.

In the drawings, like numerals of refer ence indicate correspondingparts throughout the figures.

The machine consists of a bed composed of the side frames which supportthe general working parts of the machine, including the wire feeding andwrapping devices. At a suitable point in the frame, 1, there isjournaled transversely, the power shaft 2 carrying on one end, a freelyrevolving power pulley 3 around which travels a belt 4-, adapted to bedriven from any convenient source of power, not shown. The pulley 3, isadapted to be made secure to its shaft 2 through the clutch 5 operatedby a hand lever 6, situated on the opposite side of the machine andattached to the vertical shaft 7, journaled in suitable bearings and itslower end connected with the crank 8 and the rod 9, the latter havingconnection with the clutch previously referred to. These devices areclearly seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

l0 denotes a main driving shaft and owing to its reduced speed and theamount of pressure required to drive it, for reasons in practice, isoperatively connected with the power shaft 2 through compound gearing,of which 11 is a pinion secured to the power shaft and intermeshes witha gear wheel 12 keyed to an intermediate shaft 13, which shaft isproperly journaled in bearings supported 011 the bed frame and alsocarries the pinion 14 which intermeshes with a gear wheel 15 on the maindriving shaft 10 for the purpose of transmitting power thereto. Theshaft 10 is journaled in suitable bearings on the bed frame and carriescams, cran (S, a segment gear, and a main sprocket gear, the locationand uses of which will be hereinafter fully described.

16 denotes a secondary driving shaft suitably positioned in the bedframe and receives its power from the main driving shaft 10 through asprocket wheel 17 on the shaft 15 connected by a sprocket chain 18 witha sprocket gear 19 on the shaft 16. The sprockets 17 and 19 are of equalsize, therefore the shafts 10 and 16 rotate in unison. The shaft 16 likethe shaft 10 also carries a number of cams and a segment gear, the

purposes and location of which will be further described. On theopposite end of the shaft 16 is carried a sprocket pinion 20 whichtransmits motion to a shaft 21 for operating suitable feeding devices,through a pinion 22 engaging a sprocket pinion 23 carrier on one end ofthe shaft 21. Upon the opposite end of the shaft 21 is carried asprocket pinion 24 which transmits motion to a short shaft or stud 25 bymeans of a sprocket chain 26 traveling around the pinion 24 and a pinion27 carried on the stud; and by means of the stud and suitable devicescarried thereby, motion is imparted to a transverse shaft 28, the sameadapted to actuate suitable revoluble disks which form a part of thefeed to be hereinafter described.

Having described the power shaft together with the mode of driving it,the main driving shaft and secondary shafts which control the operationof the stay section feed devices, I will now describe the manner offeeding in the strand wires and follow up such description with theoperation of the feeding devices and the manner of coiling the ends ofthe stay sections around the strands, and the further process ofcrimping the strand wires and reeling the completed fabric.

At the forward end of the machine, is a series of independently arrangedtension devices for holding each one of the strand and selvage wires;such tension devices consisting of two grooved rollers 29 and 30 between which the strand wires are drawn. The roller is revolubly carriedin a stationary frame 31 and the roller 29 is revolubly carried in aframe part 32 hinged at 33 to an extension of the frame 31 which is'forthe purpose of adjusting the roller 29and to facilitate in its removalfor the insertion of a strand wire between the two rollers;

To cause the roller 30 to revolve with the movement of the strand wireand to prevent any slipping, the roller 29 is compressed against orcaused to impinge the roller 29 by means of a spring 34 which is carriedaround a threaded stem 35, one end of which is attached to the free endof the frame part 32 and the opposite end passes through a U frame oryoke 36 which is detachably connected at its lower portions with theframe 31; and 37 is a thumb nut engaging the outer end of the stem 35,which is kept loose, but which when tightened against the U frame oryoke 36, assumes all the pressure of the spring and affords an easyremoval of the pin which holds the U frame or yoke so that the swingingframe 32 carrying the roller 29 may be swung out of position as shown inFig. 6. The object of such a tension device, is to offer resistance tothe passage of the wires through the machine, and forthis purpose, abrake is applied to the roller 30 and consists of a brake shoe 38 whichis held against the roller 30 by means of a spring 39 seated in theframe 31. The brake shoe is retained in its rela tive position with theroller in the frame by means of top and bottom flanges 40 which projectslightly over the frame 31, as shown in the Fig. 6. These tensiondevices are all mounted in a row on a sill 42 supported by the mainframe and are positioned to suit the space between the strand wires.Only one of the tension devices has been described, but as they are allsimilar, the description of one, will it is thought suffice for all. andfeeding devices is an equalizing drum 43 which is secured to atransverse shaft 44 journaled in the frame 1, and around which eachstrand and selvage travels once, serving to equalize the feeding of thestrand wires through the machine. The shaft and drum are operated onlyby the action of the drawing in of the strand wires, which isaccomplished by means of the reeling devices which wind up the completedfabric to be further described.

To ascertain the length of the strand wires fed to the machine andconsequently the length of the finishing product, a registering deviceis attached to and is operated by the shaft 44 to which the drum 43 isat tached. This registering device is repre sented by the numerals 8, 9and 10 and consists of a pinion 45 attached to one end of the shaft 44and meshing with a gear 46 on a short shaft 47 journaled in a bracket 49support-edby the main frame 1. The proportionate sizes of the pinion 45and the gear 46 are such that the gear 46 makes one revolution while thestrand wires advance one rod. The outer face of the gear 46 is providedwith a scale and graduated to represent feet, being read with the aid ofa pointer 50. On the short shaft 47 back of the gear 46 is carried apinion 51, meshing with a gear carried by a short shaft or spindle 53,which also carries a small pinion 54 meshing with a registering gearwheel 55 forming a part of a hollow spindle 56. The pinions and gearwheels of the registering device being of such proportion that the gear55 makes one revolution while the winding reel, to be described, isbeing filled. To the gear 55, is attached a dial 57 which. is seated inthe recess in the face of the gear 55 and is provided with a stem whichis carried in the hollow spindle 56 of the gear 55.

In addition to the devices for registering the length of the fabric,there is provided an alarm which may be adjusted so as to automaticallysignal the operator when any desired amount of fabric may have beenmade, however, the capacity be- Coiiperating with the tension' ing thatof the winding reel to be described. The alarm consists of a disk or cam58 car ried on the end of the spindle 56' opposite to the end whichcarries the gear and the same is provided with a notch 59 in itsperiphery into which a pawl 60 drops when the notch 59 is broughtco-incident with the pawl by the revolution of the disk. A lever 61 ispivotally connected to the pawl and by means of a spring 62, the leveris retained in such a position as to hold the pawl against theperipheral edge of the disk 58 and to the end of the lever 61 isattached a string 68 connected at its opposite end with any suitablealarm, so that when the pawl 60 drops into the notch of the disk 58, themovement of the lever will pull the cord 63 and strikes the alarm. Thedisk 58 may be adjusted in any suitable position relative to the gear 55by the lock nut 64: which has a threaded connection with the end of thespindle of the gear 55; the adjustment being made according to thegraduations which represent rods on the dial 56, compared with thepointer 6 a coacting therewith.

The strand wires are fed into the machine from the winding drum 43through guide tubes 64: carried by suitable brackets supported by themain frame. They are further directed by guides at various pointsthroughout the machine, but these will be described in conjunction withother feeding and guiding devices.

The stay feeding mechanism for applying the sections of the stay to thestrand wires, consists of a series of vibratory hoppers 65, the samebeing supported in rows above the path of the strand wires and in thesame are deposited short sections of stay in length to compare with thespaces between the strand wires to which they are fed. The succeedingsections of a stay, the adjacent ends of which are adapted to be coiledaround a coinciding strand are fed from hoppers alternately disposed inopposite rows. The bottoms of the hopper 65 are provided with slots orwire grooves 66 which communicate with vertically disposed slots orgrooves 67 and the slots 67 at the lower ends communicate with revolublyarranged disks 68 carried upon the shaft 28 and 70; the peripheral edgeof the disks 68 being provided with the notches 71.

To insure a deposit of the stay sect-ions into the slots 67 as wasintimated the walls of the hoppers 65 are caused to be vibrated whichkeeps the stay sections in constant agitation and drops them one by oneinto the slot 67, following each other successively as fast as they areremoved from the slot (37 by means of the disks G8, the stay sectionsdepositing themselves in the notches 71 of two or more disks and by therevolving of said disks, they are fed farther into the machine. Thearrangement of the hoppers is best seen in plan in Fig. 2 and in sectionin Figs. 11 and 12. The side walls of the hoppers 65 are provided withthe lateral extended flanges 72 by means of which they are held in placeby gibs 73 into which the flanges are dove-tailed and in such a manneras to adapt the walls of the hoppers to have longitudinal movement.

The mechanism for vibrating the hoppers 65 consists of the links 74;suitably connected with the sides of the hopper and with a bell cranklever 75 which is fulcrumed at 76 to a bracket 77, and to the bell c'anklever is connected a rod 7 S which at its lower end is connected with astrap 7.) which is ecceir trically connected with the power shaft SeeFig. 11 for the connection of the rod 78 with the bell crank lever andthe hopper, and Figs. 3 and 4 for the connection of the rod 78 with theeccentrically connected strap 79.

The bottom of the hoppers is indicated as 80 disposed transverselyacross the machine and also serves as a support for various guides,brackets, etc. The slots (37 referred to which lead from the bottoms ofthe hopper, are made by the arrangement of guide plates 81 and 82attached to and depending from the base of the hoppers and suit-ablyspaced to provide the slot or groove 67. 7 Referring to the disks (58which are so positioned as to receive the stay sections from the slots67, the shafts to which they are attached are journaled in the guides 81and are adapted to be intermittently and simultaneously revolved inopposite directions and upon coinciding ends of the shaft 29 and 70 reprovided with the intermeshing gears 83 and 84s; the shaft 28 extendingout through the frame supports 1 and is driven through gearing from theshaft 2i in a n1anner and for a purpose to be described.

As the feeding disks G8 are revolved with the stay sections which areseated in the notches thereof, the said stay sections are carriedforward by the revolution of the disks to a point in line with formingplates 85 suitably supported on the guides 82 and are made of hardermaterial than the guides supporting them and are used to avoid excessivewear, it being more convenient to replace a forming plate than one ofthe guides. The disks are intermittently stopped and held stationery fora pre-determined period at which time, means is actuated for bending theopposite ends of the stay sections at right angles to their length. Theguide plates 82 to which the forming plates are attached, have portions86 which overlie a portion of the peripheral edges of the disks andserve to retain the stay sections on the disks during their movementunder this portion of the guide plates and also to prevent theirbecoming dislodged during the formmg process.

The mode of forming or bending the stays, for purposes to be hereinafterdescribed, is by means of a series of plungers indicated as 87, the samebeing arranged in pairs upon the outside guide plates 81 and 82, and arecarried by angle bars 88 which extend transversely across the machinebed and upon the opposite ends, support or have attached thereto therack bars 89. The plungers are provided with the reduced stems 90 whichproject loosely through perforations or slotted openings in the uprightportion of the angle frames 88 and are held relative to longitudinalmovement with the angle frames by means of cotter pins 91, see Fig. 13.The means for moving the rack bars and thereby moving the plungers whichare attached to the angle bars 88 which support the racks, is by meansof the segmental gears 92 which are carried upon shafts 93 and adaptedthrough the operation of the shafts 93 to intermittently project theplungers 87 and return them to their normal positions; the shafts haveattached thereto the short levers 91 and the said levers are connectedto the rods or bars 95 and 96 which at their outer free ends have yokeportions 97 carried by the shaft 21. The rods or bars 95 and 96 are eachprovided with rollers 98 adapted to be engaged by cams 99 which arecarried by the shaft 21.

From an examination of Figs. 11 and 13, it will be seen that by reasonof the alternate disposition of the hoppers, the plungers are placed sothat each alternate pair moves in opposite directions or toward eachother, thus the opposing rack bars with which the plungers are attachedmust be moved in opposite directions, and to accomplish this, thearrangement of the cams 99 on the shaft 21 and the disposition of therollers on the rods or bars 95 and 96 must be such that during thecontinued rotation of the shaft 21, the segmental gears 92 will beoscillated in opposite directions and thereby advance each alternatepair of plungers toward each other.

In the reciprocation of the plungers 87 the ends thereof will engagewith the stay sec tions at or near the opposite ends and bend themforward against the forming plates 85. The disks which sup-port the staysections and the curved portions of the guides 82, serve to hold thebody of the stay sections and prevent their bending, there being alsoprovided, an intermediate series of disks 08 which will prevent the bodyof the stay sections from bending or buckling during the operation ofbending the ends thereof. To insure that as the stay sections are bent,the ends thereof will be bent forward and lie against the forming platesand the guides, the plungers being arranged to be reciprocated and atthe same time have imparted to them, a circular or an oscillatorymovement, and for this purpose, each of the plungers is provided withthe inclined or cam faces 100 which in their movement, ride againstrollers 101 pivoted to the plates 102, see Figs. 11 and 13 and in Fig.13 a pair of plungers are shown in dotted lines in their releasedposition, the remainder of the figure showing the plungers projected andthe stay sections with their ends bent against the forming plates. Inoperating the segment gears and the racks the cams 99 operate againstsprings 108 which assist in returning the racks and plungers to theirnormal or released position. There are also provided springs 10 1 theopposite ends of which connect the shanks or extensions of a pair ofplungers and are adapted to draw the shanks or extensions toward eachother as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 13 which separate the forwardends of the plungers and place them in the position to engage theextreme opposite ends of the stay sections to insure the proper bendingthereof.

Referring to the plates 102 which have been described as extendingtransversely across the frames and to which the rollers 101 areattached; the same are supported by brackets 105 which in turn aresupported by extensions of the hopper gibs 73, and the brackets 105 arerecessed as at 106, see Fig. 12, to receive the opposite ends of theplungers carrying frame 88 and serve as guides therefor.

To intermittently actuate the shaft 28 for imparting a correspondingmovement to the feed disks 68 carried thereby and those upon the shaft70, I provide on the outer end of the shaft 28, a wheel 107 which isintermittent-1y revolved by means carried on the shaft 25 which isdriven from the shaft 21. the last mentioned shaft receiving its powerfrom the shaft 16 and it from the power shaft in the manner previouslydescribed. In one of the faces of the gear 107 is provided a series ofradial slots or grooves 108 extending from a point in the body of thegear to the peripheral edge thereof. On the shaft 25 is carried a shortcrank or arm 109 and upon its outer free end is journaled a roller 110,and it is adapted that as the shaft 25 and the arm 109 is revolved, theroller 110 thereof will intermittently and successively engage with theslots or grooves 108 of the gear 107 and causes the wheel 107 to advancethe distance of the space between a slot which is suflicient to rotatethe shafts 28 and 70 a sufficient distance to carry the feed disksforward to place the stays which are seated in the notchesthereof in aposition to have their ends bent at right angles in the mannerdescribed. To look the position of the shaft 28 and the gear 107 carriedthereby while the shaft 25 is making a partial rotation to bring theroller 110 to enter a succeeding slot of the gear, I provide the back ofthe gear with a series of semi-circular grooves or pockets 111 which arestruck on an arc of a circle whose center is the center of the shaft 25and into which is adapted to be seated and revolved, a segment roller112 which is attached to and revolved with the shaft 25, the circularface of the roller operating in the pockets 111 simultaneous with themoving away of the roller 110 from the grooves 108. The notches 71 ofthe feeding disks 68 are so positioned relative to the arrangement ofthe grooves 108 on the gear 107, that when the roller 110 leaves thegear 107 and the shaft 28 is caused to stop, the notches of the feedingdisks 68 which are feeding forwardly a stay section will be in line withthe center of the forming plates 85 and the plungers 87, remaining insuch a position a suflicient length of time for the process of bendingor forming the stay sections, and as the shafts which carry the feedingdisks are again partially rotated, the feeding disks Will carry the thenbent stay beyond or below the end of the guide plates 82, when the staysection by gravity will drop on to reciprocally supported collectingfingers 113, which said fingers subsequently pass the stay sections tothe strand wires around which the ends thereof are coiled.

The collecting fingers 113 are disposed beneath the feeding disks 68,there being a pair of such fingers to co-incide with the stay sectionsfed by the opposite and alternately .disposed feeding hoppers, and thesaid fingers are rigidly attached to and carried by transverselyarranged bars 114, the opposite bars being operated through connectionswith shafts 115 and 116; the said shafts carrying cams 117 which operateagainst rollers 118 carried by yoke arms 119, the yokes adapted toreciprocate across the axis of the shafts 115 and 116 and are connectedto the bars 114 by blocks 120 through the stems 121, the yoke armsresponding to the action of the cams by means of springs 122 attached tothe opposite end of the bars 114 and to suitable frame parts, thesprings shown attached to the bars 114 in Fig. 14. The collectingfingers 113 passed through guides 122 which are suitably attached to theguides 81.

To advance the stay sections to their coiling position on the strandwires, I have provided the compression shoes 123 which are of suitablelength and disposed vertically in the machine adapted to act upon theformed ends of the stay sections and have broad enough faces to insure aproper contact with the formed ends of the stay sections. The forwardmovement of the compression shoes will bring the formed ends of thestays against blocks 124. which are attached to a.

swingably supported backing plate 125, the collecting fingers as will beseen in the drawings, pass through the compression shoes and havemovement there through and simultaneously therewith. The col'npressionshoes 123 and the blocks 124 serve as jaws bet-ween which the ends ofthe stay sections are firmly held, leaving a slight space between thebody of the stay section and the backing plate 125 for a purpose to bedescribed. The coml'n'ession shoes 123 are attached to rods 126 and thesaid rods are loosely carried through a carrier frame 127, nuts 128engaging the ends of the rods 126 to connect them with the carrierframe, and 129 denotes coiled springs which are carried on the rods 126and bear between the matching faces of the compression shoes and thecarrier frame and serve as a cushion between the said shoes and thecarrier. The com pression shoes 123 and the carrier frame 127 throughtheir connection therewith, are operated by cams 130, see Fig. 14, whichare secured to the shafts 115 and 116 which act upon the yoke stems 131,the latter pass ing through guides 132 supported by the previouslydescribed guides 80, the yokes being held to the action of the cams bysprings 134 carried on the yoke rods .131 in the manner shown in Fig.14.

The backing plate 125 to which reference has been made, in its normalposition, lies in the path of the formed ends of the stay sections asthey are deposited on the collecting fingers 113 by means of the feedingdisks 68, and to avoid an interference of the ends of the stay sectionswith the backing plate as the said stay sections are lowered, thebacking plate 125 is caused to drop a sufiicient distance to permit theformed ends of the stay sections to pass the backing plate, because ofthe fact, that as the stay sections are lowered, after their ends havebeen bent the ends will swing dmvnwardly in an arc of a circle by reasonof gravity from a horizontal to a vertical position, the body of thestay sections remaining in a horizontal position. Fig. 13 shows thestays just after forming and previous to dropping and in Fig. 12 theformed ends of the stay sections are shown projecting doi'vnwardly withthe backing plate in its normal position after being loweredandsubsequently raised. The backing plate is retained in its normalposition by means of the supporting rods 133 which are connected withthe opposite ends thereof and the said rods pass up through the baseplate and have a collar 134 attached to their upper ends between whichand the plate 80 are carried springs 135 which return and. retain thebacking plate 125 in its normal position after lowering. The means forlowering the plate, consist of the levers 1.36

fulcrumed at 137 to brackets 138 supported from the lower face of theplates 102. The free ends of the levers 136 he upon and are adapted tobe intermittently raised by cams 139 which said cams are attached to theshaft 115. Thus it will be seen, that during the continued rotation ofthe shaft 115, the cams 139 will cause the oscillation of the levers 136and cause the dropping of the backing plate 125, the same being raisedto its normal position through the action of the spring 135 as theirregular face of the cam moves away from beneath the lever 136. Themanner of driving the shaft 115 is through a sprocket chain connection140 with the previously described shaft 21. which connects with asprocket 141 thereon and with a sprocket 142 on the shaft 115, see Figs.11 and 14; and the shaft 116 is driven in unison with the shaft 115 bymeans of a chain 143 connecting a sprocket 144 on shaft 116 with asprocket 145 on the shaft 115. The shafts 115 and 116 arejournaled inbearings 146 which are supported on the lower face of the plates 102,see Fig. 11.

In the further delivery of the stay sections as they are advanced to thestrand wires around which they are coiled, 1 cmploy a series ofdelivering forks 147 which are adapted to have vertical movement andmove the stay sections from between the compression shoes 123 and theblocks 124. The lower portion of the delivering forks have thebifurcated extensions 148 which lie adjacent to the backing plate 125,somewhat in the manner as shown in Fig. 12. To the faces of theextensions 148 which move adjacent to the stay sections, is attached thefiat springs 149, see Fig. 18; the upper ends only thereof beingconnected, the lower ends curved outwardly as shown and at a point aboutthe center of the spring there is provided a stop pin 150 secured to theextension of the fork and projecting loosely through an opening in thespring. When the delivery forks are in their eX- treme raised or normalposition, the springs 150 are disposed slightly above the stay sections,and as the forks are lowered, by means to be described, the stay sectionis wedged between the fork extensions and the springs. The forks areextended until the stay sections abut with the pins 150 in whichposition they are are wedged between the extensions of the forks and thesprings, the latter holding them against such extensions, and the meansfor actuating the forks is so arranged that as soon as the sections arecaught up by the said forks, the latter are slightly raised to permitthe compression shoes and the collecting finger to recede, the raisingof the forks relieving any pressure of the sections against thecompression shoes and the collecting fingers and as soon as the saidcollecting fingers and compression shoes recede, the delivering forksare again continued in their downward movement to deposit the staysections on the strand wires at a point between a suitable knotter ortwister plate to be described. The shanks or upper portions of thedelivering forks 147 extend up through the plate 80 and their extremeupper ends are attached to a transverse bar, the opposite ends of thebar being provided with rollers 152 which operate in vertical guides 153and also in slots 154 of levers 155. The guides 1.53 are supported bythe gibs 73; and on one end of the gib 73 is secured a bracket or arm156 to which the lever 155 is pivoted at 157, and to the lower end ofthe lever 155 is attached a spring 158 which at its opposite end issuitably secured to some frame part and draws the lever in an upwardposition and the delivering forks also, the said spring yielding to theactions of a cam 159 secured to the shaft 21 which operates atpre-determined intervals to lower the delivering forks, by engagementwith a roller 160 attached to the lever, see Fig. 11. The irregularportions of the cams 159 are such that during the lowering of the forksat the time when they receive the stay sections, will cause the saidforks to raise slightly and be again lowered for the purposes abovestated.

As the delivering forks 147 are raised from their lower position, thestay sections are drawn from beneath spring plates 149 and the extensionof said forks are retained in the position in which they are placed uponthe lowering of the forks, as the latter are raised to their uppernormal position, which is accomplished by means of the reciprocallyarranged gripping fingers 161, see Figs. 19 and 20 which are adapted tobe advanced and the forward ends thereof carried over the body of thestay sections and hold them in their place on the strand wires while theforks which lower them to this position, are being raised. Thesegripping fingers operate through a suitable housing 162 which serves asa guide for the fingers and at 163 the fingers are off-set or bent outof line in order that a bar 164 to which the rear ends are attached andwhich serves as a carrier therefor, may lie out of the path of thestrand wires. The opposite ends of the carrier bar 164 are pivotallyattached to levers 165 which are fulcrumed at 166 to a suitable bracket167 in the bed frame. The lower ends of the levers 165 have a pivotalconnection with ayoke rod 168, the yoke of which is movable across theaxis of the shaft 16, and movement is imparted to the yoke rod 168 bymeans of a cam 169 carried by the shaft 16 which operates against aroller 170 carried by the yoke rod for the purpose of reciprocating.said rod and through the lever connection with the carrier bar 164:reciprocate and extend the gripping fingers 161; the gripping fingersbeing extended as shown in Figs. 19 and 20. There is provided springs171 attached to a suitable frame part and to the upper end of the lever165 for yieldingly holding the roller 170 against the cam 169.

The knotter plates or coiling disks which coil the formed ends of thestay sections around the strand wires, are best seen in Figs. 21, 22,23, 24, 25, 26 and 27. In the feeding of the strand wires they arecarried through the center of the knotter plates or coiling disks, andthe stay wires as they are lowered by the delivering forks, they will bedeposited with their bent portions overhanging adjacent strand wiressomewhat as shown in Fig. 24.

The coiling disks for coiling the ends of the stay sections'around theintermediate strand wires are constructed slightly different from thedisks which coil the outer end of the upper and lower stay sectionsaround the selvage wires. The coiling disks for the stays of theintermediate strand wires, are arranged in pairs and will be referred toas knotter plates 172 and 173 which are brought adjacent to each otherand interlock the co-inciding ends of the opposite stay sections andcoil their ends in opposite directions around a strand wire.

The disks which co-incide with the selvage strands, will be indicated as174 and 175 and will be referred to as a coiling and a seating plate;the disk 17 1 adapted to have seated in a groove therein through theaction of the disk 17 5 one end of a stay section which will be coiledaround the selvage strand, there being only one section of a stay, thereis no need of a coiling disk such as employed with the intermediatestrand wires, there being no necessity for interlocking the end of thestay section. See Fig. 33 in which a view of the fabric is shown and theform and manner in which the stay sections are coiled around theintermediate and selvage strand wires. In Figs. 24 to 27, is shown themanner of carrying the stay sections in the twister and knotter platesand the manner in which they are coiled around the strand wires. For convenience, the selvage wires will be indicated as A, the intermediatestrand wires as B, the stay sections as C, and the formed ends D whichare coiled around the intermediate strand or selvage wires.

The selvage twisting plates 17 1 are provided with a lug 176, which,during the revolution of the twister plates engages the ends D of thestay sections and directs them around the selvage wires A. The face ofthe lug 176 is provided with a groove 177 adapted to receive the formedend of the stay section and hold it steadily during the operation ofcoiling the same around the selvage wire. The seating plate 175 isprovided with a lug 178 which is adapted to seat the formed end D in itsplace on the twisting plate 174. By means to be described, it will beshown that the twister plate is adapted to be revolved, while theseating plate is not, and when the two plates are brought with theirmatching faces adjacent or against the stay section. the lug 178 onplate 175 will hold the formed end D of the stay section in front of theacting faces of the driving lug 176 and seat the end I) of the staysection against the plate 17%l in the path of the groove 177 of the lug176, so that as the plate 174. is revolved, the end D of the staysection will be seated in the said groove or engaged thereby and becarried forward by the lug and around the selvage wire A, after whichresisting pressure of the wire holds it firmly in the groove 177.

The stationary position of the plates 174- and 175 is such that only aslight movement is needed to cause the groove 177 in the lug 176 toengage the end of the stay section. To prevent the driving lug 176 frominterfering with the body of the stay section C during the revolution ofthe twisting plate, there is provided a seat, tapered or beveled face 179 on the plate 174, as shown in Figs. 22 and 24, against which theformed end of the stay section C is forced by the lug 17 8, the groove177 in the lug 176 corresponding also to the angle of the bevel face 179and conforms to the pitch at the end of the stay sections which arewound around the strand wires. The lugs 176 and 178 have inclinedportions 180 and 181, so that the combined action causes them toseparate suflicieutly at the point where the driving lug 176 passes thebody of the stay section, which is held back against the opposite plateby the angle in which it is carried in the groove in the lug 176.

The knotter plates 172 and 173 operate in conjunction with each other ina manner similar to the twisting and seating plates 171- and 175. Aspreviously referred to, Figs. 25, 26 and 27 represent a pair of theseknotter plates for the intermediate wires and show them in variousstages of operation, the resulting knot and coil of the coinciding staysections requiring a proper relation of the same to each other and theknotter plates when the former are deposited on the strand wires. In thedrawings, the plates are separated to afford a better view of thevarious steps in the process of forming the knot and coiling the staysections by the knotter plates. Each of the knotter plates are providedwith means for seating an adjacent stay section in its opposite plateand each pair of knotter plates are identical in so far as the

